In reality, however, it’s a generation that cares deeply about making a difference in shaping the future.

That’s definitely what Fils-Aime and more than 50 other City Year Jacksonville mentors are doing in Duval County schools.

They are devoting at least one year to mentoring students in six Duval County public schools as part of City Year Jacksonville, which is the local chapter of the national, volunteer-service organization.

Now in its second year in Duval schools, City Year Jacksonville has already made remarkable strides in putting numerous pupils once at serious risk of dropping out of school on the right academic path.

One major reason for that rapid success: Our nonprofit and business communities have responded admirably to the dynamic efforts of Kim Ward, City Year Jacksonville’s board chairwoman, and worked well with Duval schools Superintendent Nikolai Vitti to quickly get City Year Jacksonville mentors into district classrooms.

SOUNDING THE ALARM

But here’s the other major reason: the inspiring work of Fils-Aime and her fellow mentors inside those schools.

From leading cheers — literally — for students as they arrive for school to working directly with them throughout the school day, the City Year Jacksonville mentors provide a sense of accomplishment and encouragement for kids often short of either.

“It’s about having a belief in the power of young kids and (that) they can live up to their potential,” said Fils-Aime, a Florida State graduate.

That sense of belief led one Duval student — now a high achiever after years of academic struggle — to recently remark that City Year Jacksonville’s mentors have given him “hope … I can do anything I put my mind to (accomplish).”

Do they sound self-absorbed and materialistic?

According to Ryan Schoenike, the millennial-age executive director of the The Can Kicks Back, Washington’s political establishment has failed to solve our deficit.

“Younger people are that can,” Schoenike recently told the Times-Union editorial board. “There’s no voice for us in Washington.”

Schoenike’s organization has been quickly setting up The Can Kicks Back chapters across the country to unite millennials into a powerful force demanding real action on the national deficit — an effort that recently brought him to the University of North Florida campus.

Does Scheonike sound like a slacker to you?

SPEAKING UP FOR VETERANS

As a military vet who served in Guantanamo Bay and Iraq, Peter Hegseth’s zeal for protecting the rights of veterans runs deep: It’s about being committed to “fight for the freedoms at home that we fought for overseas,” he recently told the Times-Union editorial board.

And Hegseth, 33, has been up for that mission as the chief executive for Concerned Veterans of America.

Hegseth’s organization has linked up with other veterans organizations to aggressively push political decision-makers to go beyond lip service in resolving the Veterans Affairs department’s massive and inexcusable backlog in handling claims by veterans.

As Hegseth put it, it’s about telling the VA and politicians alike that “(we) want you to deliver what you said you would” — and keeping them accountable in addressing the concerns of veterans.

Peter Hegseth is a millennial.

Does he sound defiantly aloof to the wider world around him?

Maybe it’s time for more Americans to start cheering on ambitious millennials like Sabiana Fils-Aime, Ryan Schoenike and Peter Hegseth and stop slapping easy labels on their emerging generation.